Rising Sun
by cazminah
Summary: Set after the soccer match episode. Karin spots a familiar white-haired shinigami on that same winding path, and witnesses more emotion from our little 'child prodigy' than he ever thought he had. HitsuKarin -COMPLETE-
1. Sunset

**Rising Sun**

**Sunset**

Okay, my first fic, but don't dismiss it immediately. I try to work hard on my fics, so spare me a little time and give it a try. I'm sorry if their behavior may seem to be a little inaccurate; I'm not the most talented of writers, and I've long since forgotten what it was like to be a 10-year-old... much less understand the experience of being an ageless shinigami soul. Just bear with me.

And review. A little. Please?

* * *

A warm gold color brushed over Karakura Town, as the setting sun took the world into its own hands, painting over everything with a faint yellow glow. Karin wandered slowly along the dusty path, kicking at the floor as she strolled along, swinging her soccer ball by her side. She looked down, her eyes unfocused at any particular point as she ambled along the winding route so familiar to her... that same dusty road where he, Hitsugaya Toshiro, always is, leaning so casually against the metal railing and so indifferent to everything around him.

It had been three days since that soccer match. Was a pretty eventful day; first with their soccer game against those idiot middle schoolers, and then that... thing, again. The giant monster thing. And Toshiro, revealing that he is, in fact, a shinigami, and then defeating that huge monster.

It had been a pretty trying day, to say the least. And she had not seen Toshiro since that day. Not that she cared.

Karin raised her head to the sky, folding her hands behind her head. It was almost as if she was trying to shake off her train of thought, but her mind continued to wander nevertheless. As she lazily watched the clouds go by, her thoughts dragged her unsuspecting mind back to Hitsugaya Toshiro.

_Hitsugaya Toshiro... now there's an interesting name._ She wondered idly. As her conscious mind supplied, _why do I care_, her subconscious waved a hand dismissively and continued on. _Toshiro is for... "__to__", winter? That's quite a fitting name, given his hair and his eccentric nature,_ Karin thought, the idea bringing a smile to her face. _And the __shiro__... what's the "__shiro__" for? "__W__hite"__ hmm..._

_Maybe I'll have to ask him. Given __I__ see him again..._

She dropped her gaze back down to the floor and gave the path a harsh kick, instantly creating several dust clouds which floated high and hung in the air. Some of the dust caught in her throat and she began coughing violently, slight tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Gah. Damn it," she choked, trying to clear her throat. She kicked at the path again, frustrated at her current discomfort, but in the process bringing more clouds of dust to hang around her, aiding in her gagging.

_Great_, she thought, as she stumbled out of the dust cloud and up along the road.

--------

Farther along that same winding road, Hitsugaya Toshiro leaned against his familiar place at the rails and stared out into the sky. The sun was already nearing the horizon, its warm golden color darkening with every moment passed. His harsh, blue-green eyes were glazed over slightly, unfocused and unaware. He was too wrapped up in his memories to acknowledge anything in the present.

_Moments like this... are far too difficult to come by, now._

Hitsugaya sighed a little, and spared a quick glance at his cellphone-like command receiver device hanging loosely in his hand, before returning his gaze to the sunset in front of him. It was like the sun was just lazily slipping away, little by little. _I guess for it, it would be the most natural thing in the world, huh__ Rise up in the morning, cross that great arc through the sky, and then slowly fall back to where we can't see... '__til__ the next day. It's been doing that for as long as time __itself__... as I have..._

He closed his eyes at let his memories take him over, succumbing to the strange release of forgetting who he was, where he was, and what he was doing... if only for a moment.

_"__Shiro__-chan..."_

Hitsugaya let out a slow breath as his mind wandered in that dangerous realm of memory, lingering between his consciousness and his daydream. He inhaled quickly, suddenly seeming to snap out of it, and snapped his command receiver shut. _Better not to remember..._

It was only then that Hitsugaya grew conscious of someone coming up the path. He spared them a quick glance, for only the briefest of moments, and returned to his sunset. Surely, it was no-one important. But something about the figure this time made him look again...

He narrowed his eyes slightly as Kurosaki appeared around the bend of the road, choking dust. The image brought a quick, bewildered grin to his face, which then faded quickly. _It's Kurosaki... Huh. __Idiot._ He turned his head round, apparently disinterested. He fixed his gaze on the sunset again, determined not to look at her before she approached him but smiling a little all the same.

Karin finally got over the worst of her coughing fit. Her throat felt irritated and dry and she desperately wanted some water. She had finished her bottle earlier during the soccer practice, and was now helpless to ease her itching throat. All this was lost as she spotted a familiar figure loitering at the top of the path—a very distinct arrogant, white-haired shinigami. She ran up the last few meters to Toshiro, gasping as she came up to him.

"It's you," she said, trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah," came the non-committal reply. He didn't even glance at her.

"Um, you have any water?" Karin asked.

Hitsugaya fixed his cold gaze on her, and then reached down to his feet and tossed her a small bottle of water. Karin caught it, surprised, and nodded her thanks (which went unacknowledged), and then unscrewed the bottle cap and drank greedily.

_He__has __probably already drunk from that,_ her mind supplied, and she choked again, for the second time in just a few short minutes. Water splattered onto her shirt and flecked onto Hitsugaya's arm. He jerked a little, involuntarily, and shot her a glare (which went unnoticed).

"Sorry... sorry," Karin quickly tried to repair the damage, wiping off her mouth and then trying in a weak attempt to dry her shirt. The water bottle had only a little bit left in it, as she had drowned herself in half of it and splattered everything nearby with the other. She used her shirt to clean the neck of the bottle and screwed the cap securely back on, then handing it back to Hitsugaya, who, thankfully, took it, despite still shaking off a few rogue droplets from his arm.

_Jeez, Karin, nice __going.__ Way to embarrass yourself._ She thought. And then, _Oh my god, I just shared saliva with a guy!_ Probably the most immature and girly thought to come up with at that moment, and the very thought made Karin's face flush a bright red. She tried to hide it, but rather unsuccessfully.

Hitsugaya didn't notice though. He was doing what he did best—ignoring her.

He had thought that she was going to leave immediately, but to his bewilderment, she stepped over the metal railing and leaned back onto the fence next to him. He was slightly irked, and made no attempt to hide it. She looked into his face with a curious expression, and he had his usual impassive expression on, staring straight forwards.

After a short pause, they both staring speaking at exactly the same time.

"What are you doing—"

"I was just going to—"

They blinked at each other, before glancing away quickly, and then making eye contact again.

"You first," Hitsugaya nodded at her.

"Erm..." Karin now suddenly found it difficult to begin, and Hitsugaya's piercing gaze was doing nothing to help. "It was nothing, really. What are you doing out here again? I haven't seen you for the past couple of days." She turned a little pink at this, and avoided his gaze. _What the hell, look at him, __Karin.__ He's just a friend, just some guy._

_Still, that last line was awkward, though. It made it sound like I'd actually missed him, or something._

"Yeah." Hitsugaya's answer brought Karin back to the present. "My 'subordinates' dragged me off someplace to help with a Kendo club or something." His tone was flippant, as if discussing something extremely boring. Karin sighed a little, but then blew all those tiresome thoughts to the back of her mind. _H__e's talking, __at least, right?__ That's a start._

"Really? You do Kendo?"

"No. It was just something stupid."

And that was it, abrupt and absolute. It was spelled out as obvious as day. End of conversation.

Karin sighed and tilted her head back, inspecting the soft gradient of the sky. The sun was a dazzling red color now, and the clouds around it were tinted orange and yellow with purple shadows. She angled her neck even more, marveling at how the soft gold sky transcended into a darker gray-blue... _Like Toshiro's eyes..._ she thought, flicking her gaze sideways at him, then tilted her head back again, not even comprehending her thought. There were far fewer clouds in the middle of the sky, away from the sun. _I guess everything gathers where there is light..._ she mused.

"Or maybe it's just because they're farther away and we can see more of them together," a low, male voice supplied. Karin was confused for moment, before she realized it was Toshiro, and that she had been thinking out aloud. A pink flush tinted her cheeks. Had she voiced _all_ her odd little thoughts?

"Hey, Toshiro."

"Yes?"

"What was that memory you were talking about, that day?"

--------

_Karin, running up the same winding path that they were at now.__ A smile crossed her lips as she saw him there, leaning against that same metal barrier._

_"I thought he'd be here," she said to herself. Then, "Toshiro!" as she ran up towards him, to the now familiar _beep beep, beep _of his __cellphone__ thingy._

_"You again?"__ He said more than asked, without even glancing at her, as Karin bent over double, trying to catch her breath._

_"Why didn't you come to practice?" she asked, an irked expression drawn over her face._

_"I never said I would... Besides, I don't have much free time."_

_"Why are you so busy when you're just an elementary student?" she queried, with a skeptical tone._

_"Shut up," he sighed, casually, closing his eyes as if doing that would __rid__ him of some bothersome pest._

_"Hey. Why do you come here? Is it close to your home?"_

_A pause._

_"Not really."_

_Karin blinked, unsure if he was going to answer. He seemed a little strange. At first, Kar__in had thought that he was just trying to be cool with the whole 'dark and silent (and rude)' act, but there seemed to be real emotion sometimes behind his eyes. Karin decided she wanted to know more, right then and there._

_"This is the best place I can find... to look at the sky," Toshiro said, softly, his eyes distant. He was silent for a long moment, before adding, "It brings back memories..."_

_"Memories?__ How old are you?" Karin asked, with __a disbelieving tone_

_"That's none of your business," Hitsugaya replied, exasperated, __as if Karin was being extremely immature_

_As he crossed back over the metal barrier, his command receiver beeped, and he turned and ran in the opposite direction, without so much as a goodbye. Karin took a step forward and grabbed his arm, purely on instinct, halting his leave._

_"Don't go that way," she said, firmly. And then gathered __herself__ and tried to correct herself as Hitsugaya gazed at her quizzically. "W-well, uh... I mean..."_

_She averted her eyes and folded her hands behind her back. "I have a bad feeling about over there," she said, telling the simple truth._

_Hitsugaya stared at her, his blue-green eyes piercing into her as if it would somehow let him see through her. All the while, new and confusing thoughts were running through his head. He narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at this strange girl standing in front of him.__ She was no taller than himself__and __looking__ away from him for all she was worth__with her __arms hidden __awa__y behind her back. _She couldn't be..._ Hitsugaya's thoughts raced.__.. but were interrupted with the insistent beeping of his command receiver, again._

_The flashing dot on the miniature screen blinked a couple of times, and then faded with a dying _beepDid someone defeat it?_ Hitsugaya mentally shook himself as he gazed at the screen. Someone probably got it, but that wasn't the burning issue right now. The real problem was..._

_"Toshiro, what's wrong?" Karin asked, snapping his attention back to her._

_"No. It's nothing," he snapped his command receiver shut and stuck it into his pocket. As he turned to go, Karin made as if to stop him__, but this time carefully avoiding contact_

_"Hey, you'll come tomorrow, won't you?" her eyes were pleading__ softly_

_Hitsugaya replied as only he could. "Who knows?"_

--------

"What was that memory you were talking about, that day?"

Hitsugaya stared quietly and intently at the fading sunset. It seemed as if he had just completely ignored her, but that wasn't it. He was considering the question. He was mysteriously curious about this girl. She had soul power, and she was bright, and loyal. She was also hopelessly hot-headed and undeniably determined, just like that idiot, Kurosaki. But she had something else. She could see things that others couldn't, with those deep black eyes. She had a way of entering the hearts of people and knowing exactly what was wrong—and she knew too exactly how to fix it. _Just how much should I tell her_

"I was... thinking back. To when I was younger... I had a friend, and she allowed herself to be captivated by one who didn't care for her." He spoke hesitantly, afraid to open up. "But... before all that. It used to be just me, and her, and obaa-san _(grandmother)_." His voice held more emotion than he had ever remembered. Hitsugaya sighed, and then inhaled sharply when he felt Karin's warm hand over his cold one.

His attention snapped over to her, turning his head round, his eyes wide with shock. She was gazing back intently into his teal-colored eyes, and smiling, lightly. Hitsugaya let the tension leave his body and relaxed, still looking, bemused, at her. She had turned away, transfixed on the sunset, a faint blush creeping up to her cheeks. Hitsugaya blinked slowly, and then turned his hand over so that hers was resting in its palm. Karin looked back at him uncertainly, and he gave her a faint smile, before pulling his hand away and crossing his arms.

Karin laughed, understanding, and the two of them rested quietly in their positions, content as they were. She pulled her arms up in a stretch, and then laced her fingers at the back of her head.

"Hey, Toshiro," she said, and he quirked a brow at her, showing that she had his attention. "What's your name for?"

Rather oddly phrased, but Hitsugaya understood the question. He did his usual infuriating silence for a couple of minutes, before slowly unfolding his arms and speaking, more to the sunset than Karin.

"My name is _to_, for winter. _Shi_, for lion. And _ro_, for... young man." He had spoken slowly, as if revealing this information might somehow damage him if delivered in the wrong way.

"Ah... To – shi – ro..." Karin said, just as slowly, dragging his name out over her lips. After a considerable pause, she slapped her hands down onto her thighs and said, "Suits ya," killing the momentary emotion that had been lingering in the air.

"Huh," was Toshiro's reply, as a little twitch of frustration pulsed in him and bounced on his forehead.

"Winter, 'cause that's like, your hair and eye color, not to mention your _charming_ personality," Karin ranted on, oblivious to Toshiro's little display of irritation. "Lion, 'cause that matches your hair," she grinned up at it, "Kinda does look like a lion's mane."

Another vein appeared.

"And, uh... 'young man'..." she grinned at him, but then the smile faltered and faded off her face. "Well, you are a... um, 'young man'..."

Hitsugaya turned his gaze away and looked out at the distant sun. "Yeah."

A small silence enveloped them. Hitsugaya spared a glance at the girl next to him. _She really is something, huh? Asking what my name means?_ He sighed, and then it suddenly struck him.

"What's your name?"

"Oh. My name's _ka_, for..." she stopped and squinted at him. "Wait a second, you don't even know what my name _is_." She was surprised, as was he, at this minor fact. _I guess, as well. Obnoxious jerk never bothered to ask, did he?_

_Well, he's asking now._

"I'm Kurosaki Karin."

"So that's _ka_ for...—"

"Summer. As opposed to your winter."

"... Ah."

"And _rin_ for 'pear'." She made a slight face.

"What's wrong with 'pear'?" Hitsugaya smirked. "It suits you."

Karin took a half-hearted swipe at him and missed, laughing. "Idiot."

The couple at the fence smiled lightly at each other as they lapsed into silence. Hitsugaya's eyes wandered from Karin to the distant skyline. The round circle of the sun had already sunk below the distant silhouette of the mountain range, the beautiful golden sky beginning to fade into twilight.

"You should go," Hitsugaya said softly.

"I was wondering, the—" Karin began.

She made a soft face, as Hitsugaya stared out at something apparently very interesting in the opposite direction. It was the second time they'd done this in their short heart-to-heart session together. Karin turned on Hitsugaya, speaking softly. "What, you want me to leave, Toshiro?"

"No, nothing like that," Hitsugaya replied hastily. He paused, turning back to look at the darkening sky. "Just... it's getting dark."

"Heh, you don't have to worry about me. My house is just over there," she gestured her arm in a vague direction. "Anyway... where do you go at night, Toshiro?"

Hitsugaya's lips perked into a slight smile. "That's nothing you need to know."

"Well, I was just wondering if you slept at all."

"You idiot, of course I sleep," Hitsugaya laughed, his gaze softening as her turned to look at her.

She grinned back, and then stared out thoughtfully into the fading sunset. It really was getting dark, and he was right, she should be heading home soon. But it had been an interesting experience. Mostly because Hitsugaya had never seemed to exchange more words than necessary, with anyone. But for some reason, he felt okay to open up around her. Karin felt a little surprised, a little flattered, and a little uneasy about someone placing this intimate sort of trust in her.

But it was Toshiro. It was okay. And she was glad that he could trust her, even in such a small way.

"I was just wondering..."

"Hmm?"

"The sun... rising and setting every day, for as long as time begun... It must be tired of seeing the same thing for all those billions of years..."

Hitsugaya gave her a look of pure shock and awe. This was some very interesting philosophical stuff coming from a ten year old girl. And his own earlier deliberations had been so similar to what she was saying now. His eyes burned as he looked at her, urging her to carry on.

She must have noticed, because she glanced at him briefly. And she was surprised, because she had beheld his eyes with the most emotion she had ever seen in him. Blinking a couple of times, she continued, somewhat puzzled yet encouraged by his enthusiasm. "And a sunset, like this, to us, can be something so..." she searched for a word, but couldn't lay her finger on it. "I don't know..."

"They call this country 'Land of the Rising Sun'. I guess the sunrises must really be something, huh?" Karin drifted off into silence, feeling a little weird at the small speech she had just delivered. She glanced at Toshiro to gage his reaction, expecting laughter or teasing, but he was looking back at her gently with a small smile playing over his lips.

"Mm. Who knows?" he replied, as only Hitsugaya could, as he stared, once again, into the distant horizon.

* * *

Well, this was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but that sorta failed with the first 1/3 took up eight pages. So I'm changing this to a mini three-chapter story. I hope whoever is bothering to read this can tolerate my writing and my laziness 'til this story is finished.

Gah, that really wasn't as nice as I'd have liked it to be. Many, many parts in there were just... not well done, frankly. But I should upload it now, 'cause otherwise this ain't ever gonna end. And it's like 4am here, now, so... yeah.

Thank you for reading, though.

Few notes: I'm not totally sure I got their name translations right. Bearing in mind that my source was Wikipedia, and that I'm not actually Japanese, I hope I haven't made any stupid mistakes. I can understand the meaning of the kanji which their name is written in, though, so I hope it's okay.

Next chapter update: ... I don't know. But within the next few days (3-4), definitely.


	2. Recollections

**Rising Sun**

**Recollections**

Thank you, guys, for reviewing and for your support. BlakValentyne, thank you. Lol, I wrote that part about the water bottle purely on a whim—thought it was pretty stupid when I read it through again. But hey, someone noticed it and pointed it out. D Thanks!

I have a feeling that to improve this story a little more I gotta work on simplifying my writing style and intensifying the plotline. Gah, this is gonna be something. Just to say, though, this second chapter is more like a bridging interval than anything else, so don't expect too much from it.

Okay, on we go, Chapter 2: Recollections!

* * *

Karin rushed through the door of the Kurosaki household and slammed it shut behind her, leaning heavily against the wood as if something terrible were chasing behind her. Her agitated breathing gradually slowed, and she willed herself to relax. 

_Relax, relax. __It's__ okay, it's not like some new freaky happening is gonna come and hit you in the face—_

"Daughter... senses... tingling... KARIN-CHAN! COME, COME TO YOUR FATHER AND ENVELOPE YOURSELF IN A DEEP EMBRA—" _**WHACK**_

The old man Kurosaki Isshin collapsed in an ungraceful heap to the floor, little fuming Karin faces dancing around his head.

"Huh. Well, that's that." Karin dusted herself off and walked over to the living room, dropping her soccer ball in the hallway. "Hey, Yuzu," she said in greeting to her sister, smiling in such a way as to mask her raging confusion of emotions.

"Karin-chan," Yuzu's returned smile brightened up the whole room. "You're home kinda late—what happened?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... nothing." Karin turned slowly. She had been gazing out at no particular spot, lost in her own thoughts. It took her a minute to dissect the question being asked. "I'm not home that late," she scowled a little. "It's only 6...-ish."

"Yes, but it's already dark out," Yuzu pointed out. "Usually you're home just as the sun sets. Because the other boys leave a little earlier, and you stay out just until you notice the sun beginning to set. And then you come home."

_Gah. Sharp-eyed Yuzu. She never misses anything._

"It's already twilight now, Karin-chan. How come you're home so late?"

"YUZU-CHAN!" Isshin had found his feet again and leapt up, pushing his face into Karin's and inspecting her as a scientist would some interesting new species. Karin's eye twitched slightly as she threw a punch at her old man's face, but he ducked away, singing, "HAH! The same trick shall not work on me twice!"

"I believe, Yuzu, that our dear Karin-chan has just reached _that age_." The demented father spun around until he was pressing against their mother's memorial picture again. "Oh, Maaa-saki! What to do, now that our beloved Karin-chan is early turning into a teenager and drifting away from us—?"

"Huh...?" Yuzu's wide eyes were blinking slowly in confusion. "But I'm the same age as Karin-chan..."

Kurosaki Isshin got no further, as Karin's left foot swung down onto his head with her meanest soccer kick. She puffed a sigh, and then turned to Yuzu, asking, "Hey, Yuzu. Has Ichi-nii returned yet?" partly out of habit, partly because she wanted to know, and partly to drag the conversation away from the afore-mentioned topic.

Yuzu's entire figure seemed to sink in depression as she answered in a small, sad voice. "No, onii-chan hasn't returned yet." Karin immediately felt bad for bringing it up as Yuzu's eyes welled up with unspilt tears.

"Ah, well," she turned to the door and waved her arms in a resigning gesture. "I guess he'll just come back when he feels like it. He'll be fine." She had put on the false optimism and slightly uninterested attitude for Yuzu's sake. Truthfully, she was just as concerned for her brother as Yuzu. But if there was one thing Karin had learnt over these years, it was to hide her thoughts and emotions from the outside world.

_Still... Ichi-nii doesn't seem to be the burning issue at the moment..._ Karin thought as she climbed the stairs up to her room.

She entered her room and closed the door behind her, leaning back against it just like she had done earlier. She was drowning in all her emotions, and needed to sort them out. Sighing, she flung herself back on her bed, and gazed out at the sky.

It was the color of twilight. A beautiful gradient, with night at the top, brightening into a deep purple color, and then merging into the sort yellow-gold of the sun. But that was fast disappearing. There was already a faint crescent moon hung somewhere between the night sky and the endless purple sea. All the buildings and trees had merged together into one giant silhouette. Karin slowly released a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She closed her eyes, and her mind swam back to those last few moments with Toshiro...

--------

_"Who knows?..." __Toshiro__ had spoken softly, gazing distantly at the twilight sky._

_There had been a mutual understanding between them. Karin knew that now was the time to leave. She stepped back over the railing, stooping to pick up her soccer ball. She had felt __Toshiro__'s gaze on herself, briefly, at some point, but when she flicked her eyes up to meet his, he was still staring at the sky. She sighed, almost in frustration, and then turned to go._

_It was something incomprehensible. She felt a twang in her chest, and hesitated, glancing back at that oh-so-calm figure leaning against the metal barrier. From where she was, the light beyond him silhouetted his person, now only distinguishable by his wild, spiky hair, which glowed silver at the edges... and the way he stood there, without a care in the world... the way he held his arms, his head..._

_"__Toshiro__..." Karin reached out with her hand__, dropping her soccer ball. It rolled a couple of meters before it was stopped by the metal barrier, but neither of them especially cared._

_Her hand touched his bare arm lightly; it was just the barest of touches, but so gentle a touch was enough to make his skin prickle. He turned to look at her, and his eyes shone a deep sea-green color in the heavy twilight, whilst hears sparkled like obsidian gems. He turned a little, touching her wrist with his other hand, and before she knew what she was doing, Karin had pressed her lips to __Toshiro__'s._

_She had closed her eyes to the sensation, but his were wide with shock and confusion. However, he didn't pull away. Slowly, his own eyes fluttered shut, just as Karin's half-opened to gage his reaction._

_It was a chaste kiss, innocent and sweet. She felt __Toshiro__'s hand lightly grasp her wrist, and Karin suddenly came back to her senses. She pulled away and turned, refusing to meet his eyes. Snatching up her soccer ball, she ran up the steps and passed out of sight, leaving a very confused and b__ewildered __Toshiro__ alone at the__ fence._

--------

_Why?_ Karin struggled furiously as her emotions raged a war against her sanity. _What on God's green earth had possessed me to do that?__ Toshiro... he's Toshiro, for God's sake! Even if I _do_ like him, there's no... __excuse..._

_Oh, God._

_I did not just say that. Hitsugaya... Toshiro...? I..._

Karin covered her face with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut, as if that would erase the image of the young captain's face. His harsh, unemotional expression, and that soft voice... almost like an undertone. His stunning silver hair falling into its normal gravity-defying shape. And those eyes—those amazing sea-green eyes. Karin jerked up to a sitting position, and made a noise of frustration. Flopping back onto her bed, she rolled over onto her side, letting sleep overtake her.

_Maybe then I can... find... an escape..._

* * *

A little way away from where Karin was, a familiar snowy-haired captain gazed unto the night sky, trying to sort out his similarly confusing emotions. 

_What the hell was that...?_ He asked the sky, the stars, the moon dangling low in the sky. He couldn't understand it. This was something so completely foreign and new to him. In all his hundreds of years, he had never had any romantic contact with anyone. And in one night, she had ripped all his 'innocence' away from him.

_Pah__! Innocence... I can't believe I even __**thought**__ that!_

His fist pounded the window sill as he furrowed his brow in agitation. Captains were NOT supposed to have problems like this.

"Taaaiii-cho!" An orange-haired woman bounded into the apart, calling to him in a sing-song voice.

_Great_, Toshiro's mind supplied; even his thoughts were dripping in sarcasm. _As if this could get any worse._

Before he could even reply, his esteemed vice-captain had enveloped him in a bear hug, squashing him for all she was worth against her ample appendages.

"Get _off_," he swiped at her half-heartedly. Matsumoto detached herself from him.

"Oh-ho, someone's in a bad mood," Matsumoto commented, rather vigorously, scrunching her face up to some unrecognizable expression. "What happened, what happened? Tell Auntie Rangiku!" she bubbled at Hitsugaya, who ignored her and walked into the kitchen.

"Oh yes, taicho, I got some food for us! You hungry? Hmmmm?" she swished the plastic bag in his face, alight with glee.

Hitsugaya could take no more of this. He swatted the bag away and glared at her. "And why are you so happy?"

"You say that like happy is a bad thing," Matsumoto whined, and then shrugged. "No particular reason. You're just always so grumpy all the time so I gotta be happy for the both of us!" she clapped her hands together and sauntered out of the room.

_Well... just great._ Hitsugaya lifted the carrier bag that Matsumoto had left on the table, and warily peered into it.

"Red bean paste... Spring Onion... Noodles... and Fish," he counted off, as he pulled each piece of food out of the bag and gazed at it with a disgruntled expression. "MATSUMOTO!" he yelled, despite her being in the next room. She poked her head in the doorway with a questioning look. "What the hell is this?" Hitsugaya asked her, waving the fish around in the air.

"Oh." Matsumoto ginned brightly. "That's our dinner, taicho. Now if you'll excuse me, I must dash," and with that, she was gone.

"Hey—Matsu—WAIT!" Hitsugaya sighed, staring at the fish in his hand. "What the hell am I meant to do with this?" he asked himself.

Not reaching a conclusion, he simply stuffed the interesting selection of food back into the bag, and then wandered into Inoue's room. He eyed the massive, suspicious-looking monitor that they had carried up here, octopussing its way over half her room.

_It won't be there for much longer..._ he mused. Call it a hunch, but all of Hitsugaya's intuition and reasoning concluded that their time here was rapidly drawing to a close. They were fast approaching winter; every day a new layer of fallen leaves covered the streets in a glorious orange and red blanket, and the sunlit hours were shortening. Aizen would waste no time commencing the war as soon as he felt he was ready. They had less than four months. It was a frightening thought.

And he needed to get stronger. Toshiro shook his head at this new bizarre kind of want. Yes, he needed to get stronger. It was a strange thing for him... for any captain. But just with his power at this stage... he could not even beat a lowly arrancar. And to beat Aizen... probably all of the nine remaining captains together would not be enough. This would need a miracle...

Hitsugaya growled in frustration, and then shoved all those inconvenient thoughts to the back of his mind. Though truthfully, he had only started concentrating on that matter to shield himself from his current uncontrollable emotions.

He closed his eyes as his mind swam, displaying a weak attempt to clear his head. However, all he could think about was the soft sensation of Karin's lips against his...

He jerked involuntarily and his eyes snapped open, his face contorted with tension.

_Stupid girl... Why did she have to do that?_

_And why... did she have to pull back...?_

He was sitting down, back leaning against the wall, resting his elbows on his knees. He tilted his head back to hit the wall, and blinked, slowly, his large, sea-green eyes adjusting to the bright light. He closed his eyes again, this time in an entire turmoil of emotions... and in hurt.

He could still feel his bare arm tingling slightly at Karin's touch. He could still remember every detail, every shadow of her figure... her face, as she leaned in and gently brushed her lips against his.

He could still feel the warmth she gave him with this act of tender affection.

His hands tightened to fists. _This will not do..._

_I need to take a walk._

No part of his consciousness seemed to disagree with this, so he stood quickly, shedding his gigai with a colorful force. He checked his empty shell of a body briefly, and then headed to the window, pushing the sliding glass open and leaping out of the open window with a gentle push against the sill. Hitsugaya's black-and-white robed figure flew like a preying eagle owl into the night sky.

* * *

_"KARIN-CHAN__ DINNER'S READY!_

Karin rolled over in her bed, still lost in blissful sleep.

"Huh...? That's strange..." Yuzu mused to herself. "Karin-chan's usually the first one down for dinner... Where is she? KARIN-CHAN!"

Still no response. Yuzu set down the ladle in her hand and climbed up the stairs, looking for her sister. Her room door was, oddly enough, shut, which usually meant that Karin didn't want to be disturbed.

And, as of now, Karin _really_ didn't want to be disturbed.

"To... shiro..." she mumbled quietly in her sleep, before turning over again. She was restless. Her arms kept moving and her hands would clench, unclench... she was tense, and lightly sweating. Some may have thought that she was sick, but it wasn't that. She was caught in an intense dream.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

The sound of someone knocking on her door shook Karin half-awake. Her eyes jerked open, but they weren't really seeing, as her mind was still lingering on a certain snowy-haired, icy-eyed young man.

"Karin-chan!" Yuzu pushed air into one cheek, which was her signature frustrated and impatient face. She knocked again, and then pressed her ear against the door, listening for movement.

Karin had already woken up now, rubbing the last traces of sleep from her eyes, although not succeeding in banishing her emotions and Hitsugaya's face. "Hey, Yuzu! I'm coming!" she yelled a quick message to the door.

"About time. I've been calling you for ages..." Yuzu's voice faded as she walked down the stairs.

Karin sighed softly as she stood up, and leaned against her door. Sleep hadn't done much for her—she was once again wide awake, and that dream just then had now thrown another wrench into her forget-about-Toshiro plan.

_But then, I guess there isn't much I can do about it..._

With that, Karin pushed open the door and headed downstairs, shoving all her confused emotions, memories, thoughts and dreams right to the back of her mind. She would deal with them later.

* * *

Hitsugaya was sitting apparently relaxedly atop a nearby roof. His eyes were fixed on the window of Kurosaki Karin's house. Though it wasn't that much help to him, as the outside-facing bedroom belonged to Ichigo. The downstairs light was on, but he wasn't about to fly down there and watch Karin eat dinner or whatever. That would be very... un-captain-ly. 

He sighed, and stood. He leapt from his place, vanishing from sight of the naked eye and then reappearing on a lamppost, balancing perfectly. He continued to soar through the night, using graceful leaps and flash-steps, making his way through Karakura Town. Eventually, he reached a suitable-looking place. It was a small mound of grass in the park where Karin would always practice her soccer. It could, perhaps, barely pass for a 'hill'.

He landed gracefully down onto the slightly-damp grass, and gazed around intently for any casual passers-by. Seeing none, he slowly unsheathed his Zanpaktou, and that familiar metal scraping sound of a sword being drawn rang through the night air. He pointed it skyward, both eyes fixed steadily on the moon, as if it were his unreachable and unbeatable opponent.

Softly, so softly, Hitsugaya spoke. Yet his voice, barely above a whisper, carried through the darkness and echoed in the air.

"_Ride the winter sky... __Hyourinmaru_."

* * *

:) 

That turned out, good, I think. I like it, anyway.

I'm not really sure if Karin and Yuzu share a room, or if they have separate rooms. I _think_ they have separate rooms, 'cause in the Arrancar arc they put Rukia in with one of the sisters, I doubt three people could fit in one bedroom. Though, of course, it's possible, and I _think_ there was some point in the anime where it said they shared a bedroom. I really can't remember though. If anyone knows, please set me straight... or whatever. Heh.

To Baxter. Yeah, this is my first fic. I have written and posted before, but they were rubbish, so I took them down. Only two stories, one when I just started Fanfiction and I had no idea what I was doing (that lasted 5 chapters), and a second when I thought I knew what I was doing but didn't really... that story, I wrote 2 and a half chapters for but never actually posted.

But yeah. I'm glad you like it, and... wow, people actually think I write good. Heh, I think I'm kinda happy now.

Next chapter will be up... soon as possible. Give it 'til the end of the week, so, Sunday? Hopefully before then, 'cause I'm dying to write this next chapter. Unfortunately, it will be the last... pity, I kinda enjoyed writing this. Maybe I'll do a longer HitsuKarin in the future.

Sorry, I ramble far too much. Please, do review. Thank you, all.


	3. Rising Sun

_**Rising Sun**_

I'm SO sorry, this took a hell of a lot longer to get up than I thought. Well, it's here now, took awhile to perfect it. Gah, MUST practice keeping to deadlines... this is an issue for me regarding school, as well. --

Thank you, all you lovely people who have taken the time to read my story. And thank you even more to those who have dropped a quick review. You guys have given me the self-assurance I need to write this last chapter. So, to Slothy Girl, BlakValentyne, GhostFlowers, ToShIrOU-kArIn, Baxter, Nefarious Seraph, Tangle, ayumidream, and finally, the loveliest of them all, MatsuMama... and now, Jinn, as well (finally)—thank you so much, I love you guys. :D

* * *

A black-haired young girl stepped up onto the window sill, crouching low to steady herself and holding on tightly to the window frame. Her eyes wandered to the very-far-away ground. Karin closed her eyes and breathed out, slowly. _I can do this._

She straightened her body and shifted her foot, so she was hanging outside the window. Her left hand reached out to grab at the drainpipe, and she held on tightly, freezing there for a few moments. _Damn it... __I don't think I've ever felt my heart beat so hard..._

She felt her legs shaking, in spite of her iron will, and gritted her teeth, taking a firmer hold onto the drainpipe and focusing her weight onto her right leg. With her left, she placed it against a groove in the wall and leaned into it, her other hand coming up to grab a higher point of the drainpipe...

And then, she slipped.

Her foot slid smoothly against the wall of the house, and gravity dragged her body down. Her knee had been scraped against the rough surface, and her arms, too, as her own weight jerked her away. _Damn, my leg__ injured again... And that bruise __from the game__ hadn't even healed...__ The ground, the ground! Why am I not worried about this? Why don't I feel as if I'm about to die? I'm... totally calm... about everything..._

A breeze of black and white unfurled beneath her and wrapped around her, catching her gently. The figure landed smoothly on the ground, before leaping up again, the white haori billowing out in his wake. Karin's thoughts were scattered everywhere, but a part of her mind had found the calm serenity it had been looking for, and she accepted it; she closed her eyes and gripped tightly at the black cloth kimono of her savior. It was a strange feeling—she felt warm, and safe, she felt at _home_... yet there was also a soft coolness, and a _tenderness_... She sighed contentedly and sank deeper into the sweet sensation.

It was over way too fast.

Karin felt herself being let down, gently, and opened her eyes. And all at once, her consciousness, her memories, and her very situation all came flooding back to her. She gawked at the silver-haired figure, the steadying hand on her shoulder, and the fierce sea-green eyes that bore into her with unanswered questions. Gasping, she jerked herself away from that character, and swiftly found herself teetering near the edge of the roof, facing her death-drop again.

"Idiot!" A firm grip enclosed around her wrist and jerked her back up to safety. "You are on a _roof_, that's a slanted surface. You have to maintain your _balance_," he said, gripping her wrist tighter and pulling her against him.

His eyes burned at her.

"T... Toshiro..." Karin gazed in curious wonder at his figure. The way he had suddenly appeared, she was lost in the moment with those flowing motions, and fiery eyes... She stopped, meeting his burning gaze, his icy eyes scorching an unknown fury. _He's mad at me..._ she found herself thinking, and then, _why is he mad at me?_

"My name," he hissed, his voice retaining some qualities of his dragon's harsh screech, "is _Hitsugaya_." And having said this, he roughly let go of her wrist and tore his gaze away. She unbalanced, gasping in shock and pain, and her flailing arms found his shoulder. She grabbed on, steadying herself. Hitsugaya's eyes snapped back to her in a silent contempt, yet he couldn't resist smirking ever so slightly at her inability to stand.

"No sense of balance, huh?"

"Shut up, Toshir..." she sighed, as he was once again inspecting the distant landscape, refusing to look at her. "I'm sorry." And then, "What did I _do_?"

_"What did you do?"_ he repeated her sentiment back to her with a heated growl. He was at a loss for words—how the hell are you meant to communicate with the female species on topics such as this? He grimaced to himself, his usual frown deepening as he tried to figure it out. "How can you just..." the question died halfway in his throat, and he gave up, folding his arms and retaining as much poise as he could muster.

As his eyes swept over her again, he noticed something he hadn't earlier—a violent-looking gash across her leg, and matching wounds across her forearms. "You're bleeding," he said, his tone totally different to his earlier reproach. Before he could comprehend what he was doing, he reached out to gently take her wrist, and held her arm up to inspect the damage. Karin bit down on her usual complaints, and she felt her eyes watering. _What the hell... What the hell?! I don't _cry_, god damn it! _Toshiro was kneeling down to check her leg wound, and his teal eyes were weighted with concern.

"This is pretty bad." He said, and glanced up at her, a sigh in his eyes reading, _when will you ever learn?_ "What on earth were you doing, anyway?"

"Nothing," she snapped back, as she furiously killed the collecting tears at the edges of her eyes. "I couldn't sleep! I kept feeling some... pressure, in the air. It was weird—it felt thick, and rolled across my skin, and it was warm..." she shot him a look as she felt her bitterness fade, "but... it was cool, as well..."

Hitsugaya stiffened a little, and a small noise escaped his throat as his eyes blinked up to meet hers. He stood, slowly, and realization dawned across her face.

"It was _you_, wasn't it?"

He carefully avoided looking at her. "You really should get that checked," he said, motioning towards her injuries.

She felt something inside his voice had changed, replacing his bitterness with the tenderness she had felt earlier. But she couldn't let him get away with side-stepping her question. "Was it you?"

His eyes blazed with resent as he finally looked at her. _"What?"_

"_Was it you?_ That pressure, that cool, warm feeling I had before, that kept me from falling asleep _all night_. Was it you?"

Silence.

"I felt it again, when you... prevented me from falling, earlier." Karin bit on her lip, but refused to look away.

"Yes, it was me." Hitsugaya sighed, and then stared out at the stars again. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would keep you awake."

She shook her head, and frowned at him. "What were you doing?"

There was another very momentous pause, before he answered. "I just needed to... release. I don't know."

The air burned with the unresolved matter. But it was impossible to just bring that subject into the conversation.

_**C**__**onfused**__**Idont**__**know**__**why**__**whyImsorryIwantedto**__**see**__**youneededtoknowi**__**f**__**only...**_

The silence dragged on.

"Karin...—"

"You know, that's the first time you've called me by name..." she interrupted, before turning her face away. She slowly sat down, bending her legs carefully but still unable to hold back a small hiss of pain. She stretched her legs out in front of her and stared very pointedly in the other direction, attempting to mask her furious blush.

Hitsugaya could only watch all the oh-so-human emotions play across her face, as he kept his own carefully blank. _H__urt, disbelief, hope, resentment, scorn, warmth... and... what was that last one?__ That word... love?_ The thought sent a ripple of shock through his body, and he dismissed it immediately. He simply could not waste precious moments mulling over something completely impossible. _And... she's right. That's the first ti__me I've called her by her name._

_Exactly, you fool. You didn't even realize she's Kurosaki's sister. You never _asked_. You never cared._

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Karin... I didn't know. I'm sorry, I made you fall out the window. I'm sorry, I kept you up all night. I've been so..._

_"__W__hat use __do__ I have for such __human e__motions?..."_ he whispered softly to himself. His never-quieting conscience faded away for the time being, and he turned his attention back to now.

"Here," he said, thrusting his white captain's haori into her face.

"What..." Karin blinked at him confusedly, and then realization played over her face. "Oh... I'm sorry... I got blood on it..."

"Not that. Here," Hitsugaya shook the piece of clothing impatiently. "You're shivering. Put it on."

"I don't want to."

"Don't be stubborn, Karin." His icy eyes melted to a calm sea-green as she turned to look at him. "It's warmer than it looks... which makes it difficult for us _taicho_ in the summer." She laughed a little, and he took it as consent. Stepping behind her, he draped the white haori over her shoulders, and she pulled the edges tightly around her.

"You look different without this on," Karin suddenly said, gesturing the haori wrapped around her. Hitsugaya blinked at her slowly. He hadn't realized that she'd been watching him.

"I imagine I do. Most people have always seen me with it on."

Karin grinned a little. "Does this make me 10th division captain now, then?"

"You can dream on," Hitsugaya chuckled a little.

A delicate pause.

"Heh, wow, Toshiro... that's the first time I've heard you laugh." _Today was the first time I ever saw him smile, too. Heh, seems like today was a momentous occasion._ Karin's midnight-black eyes gazed owlishly towards him, carefully gauging his reaction.

Hitsugaya shifted a little—some might even have thought he was uncomfortable. He sighed, quietly, and dropped down to sit next to Karin.

"Smiling... and laughing... are not really emotions that a shinigami needs. Especially a captain."

She stared at him for a long time, trying to see through him, as if her burning gaze would melt his icy exterior.

Finally, softly, she spoke, each phrase causing a small cloud to mist in the night air. "... Don't be stubborn, Toshiro..." Sea-green eyes turned to meet those shining obsidian jewels. "Everyone needs to laugh and smile sometimes... Even shinigami _taicho_..."

She was so close. And as she leaned into him, he thought... he _thought_...

But she didn't.

You could say he almost regretted it.

"I'm sorry... for earlier." Karin folded her legs close to her body and wrapped her arms around the top of her legs, resting her chin on her arms. She was gazing distantly at some particular star as she spoke.

"Are you..." Hitsugaya began, and then shut up. If she was talking, he should just let her talk.

"I just... don't really know why. It just... seemed right. I felt like I was home... but you know, a different kinda home to how we'd understand..."

He watched her carefully, almost afraid to make any movements, to say anything. And he realized that she was just as confused as he was. If he wanted the answers to his questions, he would have to figure them out himself. She didn't really understand at all. His eyes narrowed as he continued to watch Karin gazing out into the night sky. _She's... impulsive. Passionate... fiery, heh. She's every bit like her brother. Only a little bit more level-headed._

"I think... I just like you." She had spoken so softly that he almost hadn't caught it, but even her breathy whisper couldn't escape his cat-like hearing. A soft flush crept its way up Karin's cheeks, but she was tired, so she didn't really care so much. She let her eyes close and just rested herself, not exactly asleep, but not exactly conscious, either.

And this left Hitsugaya to his own thoughts. He had been surprised, confused, even, by her sudden revelation—even if it wasn't meant for his ears. _I just like you..._ what the hell does that even _mean_? What's 'like'? _Nobody 'likes' me. I'm different, I'm weird. There is nothing to like. Even in the way... I didn't even think to ask her name after knowing her for three days!_

_"I'm just this selfish... egotistical... bastar—"_

"No," a warm hand clasped over his arm, and he stiffened a little at the contact. "You're not." Karin pulled herself close to him, and then leaned her head on his shoulder, never once opening her eyes.

She smiled a little, through her closed lids. "Relax a little, Toshiro... or Hitsugaya-san... if you prefer..."

Hitsugaya smiled a soft, graceful smile, and willed his body to relax. He soon found himself melting into Karin's touch, his entire body warming to her weight pressed against his body. Her gentle, even breathing let him know that she was now asleep. Sighing, he stared up at the midnight black sky—_the same color as Karin's eyes..._—and the gentle stars, asking, pleading them for his longed-for answers.

_Kurosaki Karin... just what on earth have__you done to me?..._

* * *

The moon was only a thin sliver of silver that wisped in the heavy darkness of the sky, but it was nonetheless beautiful. And due to the lack of the moon, there was no limit to the number of playful, twinkling stars in the sky. Hitsugaya gazed unto them, his deep green eyes shimmering with the reflected light from the stars. At this hour, there was total stillness; there were no pedestrians, no humans at all, anywhere... no blinking lights from the tall office buildings in the distance, not anything. Well, aside from the dark-haired girl who was sound asleep against him, breathing softly against his arm. 

"Taicho?" It was a familiar voice. Hitsugaya's irritation flittered across his face. His calm serenity had been shattered. He turned very slightly, and very slowly towards the curious female voice behind him, only glancing at Matsumoto out of the corner of his eye. He was desperate not to wake Karin, because... _Well, I don't really know, _he admitted to himself. _But, I just... don't want to wake her. She looks so peaceful..._

Matsumoto was oogling him and the strange black-haired girl wrapped so comfortably around his arm. Her eyes were wide with questioning disbelief and her mouth was pursed to a small 'ooh' shape.

"Taicho" she sauntered towards him, bending down and peering curiously into his face.

"I can hear you, Matsumoto," he snapped, in his usual bland and very captain-y tone. "What is it?"

"Who is _this_?" she flounced to the other side, inspecting the peacefully sleeping Karin, her cornflower-blue eyes tinted with humor.

"You've met her before. She's Kurosaki Ichigo's sister."

"Yes, but what's she doing? Have you really become a stalker, taicho?"

A vein popped up, throbbing in Hitsugaya's temple. He gritted his teeth, and attempted to ignore his subordinate's obvious ridiculousness. "Why are you here, Matsumoto?"

"Taicho, you really _do_ like this girl, don't you?" her eyes sparkled.

"I _asked_ you, why are you here?"

"Tch. Taicho, I'm only here because _you_ aren't doing your job. You have already missed around four hollows that were in this area." He stiffened as she spoke. _Four? Four hollows? How on earth had that happened?_ "I took care of them, of course, and then decided to check up on you, see where you were. Who would have thought you'd be here flirting with a human girl?"

His confusion and guilt momentarily vanished at Matsumoto's light-hearted comments. "I was _not_ 'flirting'." His eyes flashed, turning a strange shade of icy-blue, and the nearby atmosphere crinkled with the sound of forming frost.

Matsumoto 'hmph'ed a little, and blew a cloud of warm air. "I was only joking. No need to take on so."

The little irritated captain opened his mouth to retort, but then both of them stopped, froze, as Karin shifted in her position and curled more tightly into Hitsugaya. She was shivering, slightly, and each breath produced a small cloud which moisted against his skin.

"Karin..." he reigned his leaking power and brought it back under his control, his gaze never trailing away from Karin's shivering form. He placed a hand hesitantly over hers, and clasped it tightly. She was even colder than he was, which was a little different. Usually his skin was always like ice, and no-one's hand would be colder than his.

Her breathing regulated after a little while, her body temperature rising back to its normal level, and she never woke once through the whole thing. As her hand grew warmer against his, Hitsugaya took his hand away, feeling the heat rise up to his face. It was only then that he remembered Matsumoto. He glanced around behind him, and was greeted by empty space. She had left.

* * *

"Karin... wake up," Hitsugaya touched Karin's arm and shook her gently. She gave no response, except to clutch even tighter to him. 

_I wonder if she's dreaming..._

"Karin... Karin...-kun. Hey, wake up." He shook her a little harder, and then nudged the shoulder that she was lying on. She slowly came to, her eyes opening a fraction, and her voice still thick with sleep.

"Wh... What is it...?"

Hitsugaya laughed, and detached his arm from her grasp. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

Karin blinked herself into consciousness, and the first thing she saw... sea-green eyes that were warm with laughter.

He leaned away from her, and she pushed herself to a sitting position, gazing at him inquisitively.

"The sun's rising," he said simply, his eyes fixed on the line of the horizon where the first few shafts of bright white sunlight were cracking through.

And Karin finally turned as well, just to be mesmerized by the sheer brilliance of such a spectacular scene.

It was something to remember. The midnight blue of the sky turned quickly to a rich lavender gradient which soaked into a warm orange-red color. And underneath the red was just pure, pure white. Karin had seen so many sunsets in all her slow walks home, but they could not compare with this. Sunsets were warm and golden, they were yellow, they were beautiful, and they basked the world in a pool of thick honey, so sweet, so luxurious... But this, this sunrise, it was just _white_. It painted a beautiful flow of colors across the sky, and it ran, one into another, like an endless rainbow. And the white would billow outwards, like the air, like the wind, claiming everything it touched. It was like _power_. It was fierce and passionate, and it ate you up, and swallowed you whole... and it gave you the most wonderful, uplifting feeling of release.

Karin's gaze was drawn to everything around her, to see the trees turn a brilliant white, for just the barest of moments, the houses, the silhouetted buildings... and the sky, that pretty, pretty lavender flooding over the night sky, washing over the stars and the moon...

And then there was Toshiro. His entire body was accented by the glow of the amazing sunrise. His hair wafted in the breeze, dancing, and as the light hit his eyes it turned them a pale blue-green color—the color of clear water, of a river. The light seemed to blaze from his skin, and his cool gaze, his set face, was all perfectly sculpted. And the black shinigami outfit, fluttering in wind, only seemed to accent the effect.

_He looks like... an angel..._

Karin didn't even have time to be embarrassed. She was just so completely in awe at this amazing spectacle, and the cold-hearted boy wonder sitting right next to her. She watched as he stood up and held his hand out to her, the wind catching his kimono and making it dance.

"Come." The half-shadow of his face curled into a smile. "I want to show you something."

Karin reached out and clasped her hand in his, and he pulled her up to her feet. With his other hand, he drew his Zanpaktou and held it loosely, pointing it at the sky.

_"Souten ni Zase__..."_ His voice was soft, and calm, but growling with quietly controlled power. Karin gripped his hand a little tighter, and took a step closer to him.

He spared her a soft smile, as he spoke again, his voice just a few louder, _"Hyourinmaru."_

The ice-dragon erupted from the end of his sword, swimming through the air and emitting several loud shrieks. Karin's eyes widened with wonder. The brilliant whiteness of the rising sun flashed against its snake-like torso, creating a breathtaking rainbow of light. Her attention was brought back to the present as Toshiro moved against her. She turned to look at him, and he was facing her, his eyes ablaze with an intense exhilaration.

"Come fly with me, Karin-kun?"

_And we'll soar in the winter sky..._

She could only nod, and he whispered almost too quietly to be heard, "_Bankai."_

Icy wings erupted from Hitsugaya's back, spreading slowly. Ice crept down his arms and his legs, and continued to crawl over the nearby scenery, enveloping the roofs in a thick layer of ice, and a tail whipped out, curling around them with languid grace.

Karin almost pulled away as Hitsugaya merged himself with his dragon, but his arm around her held her against him like frozen steel. She willed her tense body to relax against him, and surprisingly it worked.

"Are you cold?"

"No..." It was strange; despite the creeping frost all around her, Karin felt very warm. It was the exact same cool, yet warm power she had felt earlier, rolling across her skin, and the same undertone she had felt earlier when she was in Hitsugaya's arms. A soft breeze... it felt like home.

"That's good." And he pushed upwards into the sky, those brilliant ice wings flapping once, twice, three times, and then they were in the sky, _gliding_. Karin held tightly with one hand onto Hitsugaya's kimono, bunching the cloth in her hand. He gave her an amused glance as he slowed and hovered in the air.

"Hey." She looked round at him at the sound of his voice. "I'm not going to drop you. Okay? You can relax."

Her face flushed at his light cynicism and she loosened her tense grip on his clothes. He pulled her a little tighter against him, and took off again, soaring forwards. He flew with practiced expertise, catching onto the wind currents and letting it swing them forwards, so that they twisted and somersaulted through the air.

And so, they flew like that, for what seemed like an endless eternity. Karin was really enjoying herself; she had spread her arms out to feel the wind course through her body, rippling through her hair and her clothes. Her eyes shone with pure ecstasy, and she was laughing. Soft flakes of snow had started drifting from the sky, courtesy of Hitsugaya's freezing reiatsu, but despite this, Karin didn't feel the least bit cold. She felt warm, and complete. It was an absolutely breathtaking feeling.

Finally, Hitsugaya pulled them down to land on a building roof. They were high up, on the edge of the city center, and the view was spectacular—they could see for miles around. Karin gazed around slowly, and then lifted her head to the sky, as a snowdrop gently floated down and handed on her fingertip.

"Does it always have to snow?"

"No. I just like it." Hitsugaya shifted uncomfortably, and added, "I can make it stop, if you want."

"No, it's fine. I was just asking..." Karin sighed, softly, and fixed her gaze on him with a distant look in her eyes. "That was amazing, Toshiro."

He nodded at her in acknowledgement. "I had always thought, before... that the Hour of the Rooster (A/N – about 6-8pm, a.k.a. sunset) was the most spectacular. But, I was wrong." He shrugged gracefully, then shot Karin a glare as he realized she was grinning at him, the gentle white flakes settling on her and making her seem almost angelic. "What?" he asked her, and despite himself he realized he was smiling.

"You. You're so... old-fashioned." She grinned playfully at him.

Hitsugaya made a small 'tch' sound and turned away, his face flushing slightly, and then gasped as he felt Karin's arms wrap around him.

"Nothing wrong with that, Toshiro-kun," she whispered softly, leaning against his shoulder. "Thank you... for a wonderful, amazing, unforgettable memory."

He closed his eyes, and leaned into her. "... Yeah..."

He couldn't really understand. Despite being almost fifty years old, he had entered Sereitei when he was young, and hadn't aged since, so people always treated him as he looked. Due to this, he had never had any romantic experience of any kind.

So he couldn't really understand. Neither of them could really understand. He swallowed, and relaxed the breath he'd been holding. _Maybe I don't _have_ to understand..._

_Karin's right... it feels like home._

"Do you have to go?..." she asked, loosening her hold around him.

"... Yeah... I probably do."

She was shrugging out of his white haori as he stepped away from her. She held it out to him, smiling a little apologetically. "Sorry, it's still a little... bloodied..."

He waved her apologies away. "It's fine. It's seen a lot worse, believe me." He folded it neatly and held it under an arm, as he was unable to immediately put it on. He could still feel Karin's faint warmth in it, and the sensation made him feel oddly light-headed.

He stepped out to the very edge of the roof, and wavered, his eyes wandering back to linger at her reserved form. She was staring down at the ground, her hands rubbing up and down her arms. The pose seemed so small and _sweet_ that it just didn't seem like Karin. He moved against her, taking hold of her hand and feeling her warmth seep through him.

"Are you cold?" He smiled, and she returned it, and then he had leaned forwards, pressing his lips against hers. And this time it was her eyes which widened in shock, but then slowly fell closed as she melted against him. His great ice wings enveloped around them, and their long and searing kiss was the fiery passion in the center of a great circle of ice.

It was a long time before they broke away, and Hitsugaya stepped back, moving to the edge of the roof again, his hand reluctantly slipping away from Karin's. There was silence; they simply stared at each other, endlessly, no need for words. And Hitsugaya felt as if he had all his questions answered.

_This is home... our rising sun. One memory to never forget, along with the warm yellow sunsets and the deliciously sweet taste of watermelon... is our brilliant white rising sun, and the unforgettable warmth of unity..._

He stepped out, and raised his eyes to the sky – the yin/yang of his gathering snowclouds and the white sunrise. With a careful blink and his clear consciousness, the icy atmosphere disappeared, and the snow stopped. He gazed at the lingering clouds, and they both understood that it was time for him to take his leave.

"So... I'll see you next time, then?" Karin asked, a tint of hope echoing in her voice. And despite the sadness she felt, she found herself smiling, if only a little.

And he smiled back, his eyes sparkling as he replied, "Who knows?"

Then he was gone, pushing off from the roof and flapping his great ice wings once, twirling in the sky. Karin squinted against the bright light as the fading black shadow shrunk into the rising sun... and the dark snowclouds over her head dissipated to nothingness.

* * *

So, how was that? I won't voice my own insecurities here, but... it's been revised over and over like hell, so yeah. Let me know what you think! 

Thank you, all, for reading! I quite enjoyed writing this story – now onto some more complex stuff!

EDIT: Okay, lovely readers. This is just to confirm that this story is now officially complete, there will be no more updates for this story. P I know that some of you felt like it was a bit of an incomplete ending, but this is how I originally planned it, and I am not going to extend it to anything further. I'm really glad you all liked it, though!

And, a sneak preview, I am planning a much longer HitsuKarin fic, with a lot more depth and complicity. The basis isn't that original - it's another one of those Karin becomes a shinigami fics, but I intend to evolve it to something far more complex. So please, when the time comes, go over there and read it! D

--Caz


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